Pope Francis receives in audience a Delegation of the Russian Orthodox Patriarchate of Moscow and says he is praying for unity. Pope Francis on Wednesday received a delegation from the Russian Orthodox Patriarchate in Moscow and expressed hope for full Christian unity, saying it is the path to peace. Expressing his wish to follow “the path of unity”, the [...]

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, is just returned from a 4-day state visit to Russia, with which he says Pope Francis is “pleased”. In an exclusive interview with Vatican media on Friday, Cardinal Pietro Parolin reviewed his state visit to Russia this week, pointing out its highlights and the issues as yet unresolved between [...]

August 29, 2016, Monday -- Rome-Moscow Exchange Intensifies "May the Holy Mother of God, our common heavenly Mother, keep all of us and cover us from all evil.'" —Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev, head of the Department of External Relations of the Russian Orthodox Patriarchate of Moscow, speaking to a dozen visitors from Rome, his guests for two [...]

September 23, 2015, Washington D.C. Apostolic journey of Pope Francis to the United States of America. Welcoming ceremony for Pope Francis at the South Lawn of the White House (Galazka photo) “Building bridges to build peace” is the main theme of the book The American Pope (Vatican Press, 2016), a collection of speeches, in [...]

Pope Francis and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow sign a joint declaration during a meeting at Jose Marti International Airport in Havana, February 12 (CNS photo/Paul Haring) See POPE-PATRIARCH-CUBA Feb. 12, 2016. There is no doubt that the meeting between the Catholic Pope Francis and Kirill, Russian Orthodox Patriarch of Moscow and All [...]

Pope Francis’ September 2015 trip started in Cuba and then took him to Washington, New York and Philadelphia in the United States. It generated enormous media coverage. For days, the Pope was “in the news” in an extraordinary way. Now Gilberto Marengo has analyzed this trip in Pope Francis Meets the New World (Vatican Publishing House [...]

February 12, 2016, Friday -- The Kiss That Took A Thousand Years The Kiss That Took A Thousand Years HAVANA, Cuba — Pope Francis and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill kissed each other and sat down together Friday for the first meeting between two branches of the Church divided since 1054 A.D. — almost 1,000 years ago. [...]

February 12, 2016, Friday -- Today's Common Declaration of Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill in Cuba The Middle East -- "We call upon the international community to act urgently in order to prevent the further expulsion of Christians from the Middle East."—Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill, Common statement, issued today in Cuba, just a few minutes [...]

February 12, 2016, Friday -- Today's Meeting Between Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill in Cuba The Day's Schedule Here is the schedule for the meeting today between Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church. Friday, 12 February 2016 7:45 a.m. Departure from Rome's Fiumicino airport for Havana (Cuba) Greeting to journalists during [...]